Rugby-Six Pumas test positive for COVID-19: UAR

Loose forward Javier Oretego Desio also tested positive in late August. The Pumas entered a bio-secure bubble on Friday for two weeks to begin preparations for the Rugby Championship, which also features New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Six Pumas players have tested positive for COVID-19, the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) said, news which deals another blow to hopes the Rugby Championship can go ahead later this year. The players, including first-choice winger Emiliano Boffelli, all tested positive at the team's training camp on Friday, the UAR said on the Pumas' official Twitter page.

All six were asymptomatic and were "already fulfilling preventive isolation". Loose forward Javier Oretego Desio also tested positive in late August.

The Pumas entered a bio-secure bubble on Friday for two weeks to begin preparations for the Rugby Championship, which also features New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The players were tested before they entered the bubble.

The Championship had been tentatively scheduled for New Zealand in November-December. However, new outbreaks of COVID-19 in New Zealand and Australia, combined with a lack of match practice for the Pumas and Springboks, had already raised doubts it would go ahead.